Keep Calm and Get Ready to Adapt at Work
Do you remember how it felt as a kid to go back to school at the start of a new year? The excitement, the new backpack, the anticipation, and a whole new chance to start again? The schedule and expectations for your days were changing and you needed to get ready for that.
Plans for your professional life similarly involve getting ready to go back to work now aafter vacations and holidays, and maybe some extended time working remote. That means you should anticipate the need to adapt and prepare for that as much as you did for a new school term.
Our working lives have changed, and it may feel like we’re constantly adjusting every time we start a new work day. Here are a few key things to consider in your work life to start to get ahead of the challenges:
Working in the office is necessary, not optional
Whether or not your company requires a certain number of days in the office, the reality of the return-to-work push means that you need to make being in the office a priority if you want to connect with colleagues that are there as well. Even if you’d rather not resume your home-to-office commute, face-to-face engagement is important. Most employers are continuing some flexibility and are not requiring that everyone be in the office five-days-per-week as many were pre-pandemic. But if the partner to whom you want to introduce yourself, the team leader who has asked you to talk over ideas for a new project, or the new joiner that you supervise is in the office, you need to prioritize being there to connect with them.
And if your organization is requiring a minimum number of in-office work days, don’t assume that’s just a guideline without consequences. Law and other service firms are looking closely at how professionals are meeting expectations overall. A dip in billable hours, a missed deadline, or a lag in responding to communications may lead to the perception that the lack of in-office engagement is the cause. If being in the office can help avoid those kinds of missteps, it’s worth making the effort to be present there. For additional thoughts on why you need to have some in-office work time, read more here: Why You Should Go Back To The Office
Manage financial hygiene rigorously - because it matters more than ever
The push on billing and collections is real amid inflation and other economic challenges. So, you’re going to be held accountable for making sure you are entering and closing time promptly, have a plan to get paid sooner on accounts receivable, and managing expenses tightly. According to Citigroup, law firm productivity is declining in 2023, and expenses are outpacing revenue growth. For other industries, including commercial real estate and many retail companies, demand has also decreased amid rising supply costs. All of this means more pressure on individuals within a firm or company to be keenly aware of and work rigorously to meet the organization’s financial goals. Even if you’re not a partner or senior leader in your organization, and think that financial goals are for others to focus on, consider that everyone’s actions matter in their companies. For example, law firms are starting to impose compensation penalties for associates and staff that fail to enter time on a set schedule.
If you’re not aware of the financial objectives that your company or firm wants your practice, your team and you individually to meet by the end of your fiscal year, you need to start getting clear on those now. A conversation with your financial team is imperative. And even if you think you know you’re on track to meet your financial goals, it can still be helpful to do a check-in with your supervisor, especially if expectations may have changed since last year or even earlier in this year.
Find new ways to adapt to a different office culture
The office environment has changed since the pandemic. Maybe your colleagues have less time for after-work happy hours. Or perhaps your team seems less patient and less communicative in your weekly meetings. Or you’re hearing that people are having difficulty getting to know all the new hires.
If you’re seeing these kinds of changes, you’re not alone. Most people are having trouble adapting to working differently than they have for the past several years. Returning to a regular work commute may be taking time away from being able to end the work day earlier at home. After using shared online tools for projects, and doing quick videoconference calls to check in on progress, in-person meetings seem more annoying and less necessary. And remembering who the new, and sort-of-new-because-they-started-remote-a-year-ago, faces are on your floor and hallway, seems harder than it should be.
Cut yourself and others some slack, and be practical and open to how you can meet this new reality. With calendars now needing to be organized around multiple in-office schedules, you may want to suggest reducing the number of office meetings and set only those where in-person participation is critical to the objectives. Short lunches or coffees may start taking the place of after-work events. And if getting to know new employees is harder now, and you can’t seem to connect, offer to do a telephone or video call to get started, with a goal of meeting up in-person later. Most importantly, don’t beat yourself or others up as you try out new ways of working and engaging that feel a bit awkward. We’re all trying to figure out the new normal, and being flexible around how to make it all work is key.
Make an extra effort to support your professional support staff
Many professional services firms have had difficulty retaining administrative, marketing and business development professionals in the post-pandemic era. Some support professionals have found better opportunities elsewhere with better pay. Other companies are laying off support professionals, and reducing their ranks.
At the same time, the demand for work efficiency means that there is renewed emphasis on making sure employees charged with generating revenue are not spending time on administrative tasks. But if you rely on support staff to help you, you should anticipate that fewer such employees are likely available now in your organization. Revenue generators are competing for support, and professional support teams feel overwhelmed with the demands placed on them. This continues a trend which began before the pandemic. Many professional services firms were already making moves to reduce staff and centralize operations support personnel in lower cost locations.
In short - your professional support teams and individuals have been feeling pressured for quite a while. In addition, as a group they have largely been required to be back in the office and for more days each week long before now. Trying to support people who have been working remote, and may be less accessible, has taken its toll. While you may be frustrated with attrition and layoffs on your support team, try to show this group of professionals some appreciation and patience.
Dress for success
You may not be buying a new backpack or laying out your school supplies the night before classes start, but you want to show up with confidence and make the right re-start at work. So don’t take for granted what you need to wear. You succeed when you feel like you’re equipped with the best tools to get you started, and this extends to your wardrobe. You’ll want to take the time to update, clean and coordinate your attire.
For those who have been working largely at home, also make sure your work wardrobe is up to date on the norms in your office now. Perhaps it’s more business casual, less suits and more khakis, fewer dressy blouses and more sweaters. But even in a super casual office environment, it isn’t workout gear, worn-out shirts and shabby flip-flops. That might have been the clothing for work-from-home days, but it won’t work at the office. You need to dress like the professional that you are, and begin as you mean to go on. If that means upgrading your wardrobe, and replacing items that don’t fit or are no longer workplace suitable, do it.
The more you position your mindset, and your presence at work to demonstrate engagement, the faster you’ll be able to adapt to the changes you are seeing around you.